Meandering Coral Growth Form Meandering corals are next up on our list of coral growth forms. Meandering is just another word for brain corals as the long meandering walls and valleys looks like a bra…

Encrusting Coral Growth Form Corals grow in different growth forms to survive in different habitats, and the coral growth form which a most easily overlooked are the encrusting species. These corals c…

Plating Corals Spotting coral can be overwhelming when everything looks the same. However, learning to recognize corals based on growth forms in the easiest way to master the art of coral spotting. Pl…

Six Types of Branching Coral One of the first steps to becoming a coral spotter is learning to recognize coral growth forms. An perhaps the most recognizable of them all is branching corals. But even …

Large Polyp Corals Large polyp corals are any hard coral species which have thick fleshy tissue and large corallites over a few centimeters wide. There are even some extra large species with polyps th…

Small Polyp Corals Do you remember how to tell the difference between hard and soft corals? Remember it has to do with the number of tentacles… We explained that hard corals are based on a six fold sy…

Learn to Spot Coral Growth Forms Corals are the foundation of the marine environment, but the diversity of coral species often gets overlooked. Looking for corals can be overwhelming. There are so man…

The Difference Between Hard and Soft Corals It may seem simple enough, one is soft and one is hard, but can you really spot the different between these two distinct groups of coral? The biggest differ…